PRESS RELEASE
Bio-On S.p.A. - Cristal Union
Agreement to realise the first France-based facility for producing PHAs biopolymers from sugar beet co-products
Paris, 28 July 2015 - An agreement signed today by Bio-on and Cristal Union will see France`s first facility for the production of PHAs bioplastic from sugar beet co-products. The two companies, operating in sustainable biochemistry and sugar, alcohol and bioethanol production, will work together to build a production site with a 5 thousand tons/year output, expandable to 10 thousand tons/year.
Requiring a 70 million Euro investment, the facility will be located at a Cristal Union site and will be the most advanced biopolymers production site in the world. The new factory will create 50 new jobs specialised in fermentation to produce this revolutionary bioplastic.
PHAs, or polyhydroxyalkanoates, are bioplastics that can replace a number of traditional polymers currently made with petrochemical processes using hydrocarbons. The PHAs developed by Bio-on guarantee the same thermo-mechanical properties with the advantage of being completely naturally biodegradable.
"We are investing in purchasing the license for this new technology developed by Bio-on," says Cristal Union CEO Alain Commisaire, "because this all-natural bioplastic is an extraordinary tool that can contribute towards the growth of the French sugar industry, but with a modern, eco-compatible and eco-sustainable approach".
"We will create Europe`s first PHAs production facility with France`s leading sugar production and trading company," explains Bio-on S.p.A. Chairman Marco Astorri. "We have granted the first technological license in line with our expectations and will also be creating a cutting-edge collaboration for management and development of the promising high-performing biopolymers business developed by Bio-on S.p.A. and produced in France by Cristal Union".
The collaboration between Bio-on and Cristal Union today reaches an important milestone and adds another building block in the construction of the platform for bioplastic production in the future.
Cristal Union.
Cristal Union, the EU`s fourth largest sugar beet transformer with 14 million tonnes processed, is an agro-industrial cooperative group which accounts for approximately 40% of French beet production, encompassing 2,000 employees and 9,000 partners in over 15 production sites in France (10 sugar factories, 3 distilleries and 2 other sites). Pursuing an ambitious, committed investment policy since its foundation, within an RSE strategy, the group plies two long-standing trades: sugar for industry and foodstuffs (Daddy, Truvia and Erstein brands), alcohol and ethanol (fuel, industries, perfumes, cosmetics, food, preserved in alcohol) but also for new activities in the sector of green energies or biobased chemistry, heralding a great future and adding value to the work of its partners.
Turnover: 1.8 billion Euro